Free Berlina's Quest by James Hartley Page B

poisonous. Of course, Lathan shoveled it all down like he was dining at the Royal Court in the High Palace.
    After they ate, Lathan gave Berlina and Felistia blankets, and they all settled down to sleep. Berlina made sure she and her companion were at least twenty feet away from Lathan. She did not want to give the big lug any ideas.
    The next morning, Berlina awoke to find Lathan about to stew up another batch of ragweed and poisonous mushrooms. “No!” she said firmly. “Lathan, you go out and find some bargabird nests with freshly laid eggs. You can tell because fresh eggs are still white. Bring back a dozen eggs, and
don’t
break them.”
    â€œOkay, I kin do dat. Youse gonna fix us breakfst?”
    â€œYes, Lathan. I’m going to fix breakfast. Now go!” He stumbled off through the forest. As soon as he was well out of sight, the two girls washed up at the little brook, then gathered a few herbs and non-poisonous mushrooms. Bee got a fire going. She readied the crude utensils while the herbs and mushrooms cooked.
    â€œBee, I didn’t know you could cook,” said Felistia. “An odd talent for a princess. When did you learn that?”
    â€œI learned it from Forsythia. Did you ever think that there is little difference between cooking and potion making?”
    When Lathan returned with the eggs, she cracked them into the mixture. With the pots and pans Lathan had, even head chef Emerald in the High Palace kitchen couldn’t have managed an omelet, but scrambled eggs worked fine.
    When they finished eating, Lathan said, “Okay, yer Highness. We gotta get moving. Gotta getchoo back ta yer mother.”
    â€œNo!” said Berlina. “That’s where we were escaping from. I need to find and rescue my brother Darvid. My mother had us locked up for my safety, but we got out and were hiding in a tavern. I thought we were safe. We planned to move out soon and go hunting for Darvid, but Drailsen’s men found us, grabbed us, and stuck us in the dungeon where you found us.”
    â€œWow, dat’s some adventoor, already. So, if we don’t go back to da High Palace, where do we go, yer Highness? An’ how do we get dere?”
    â€œA very good question,” replied Berlina. “I wish I knew. For the moment, I think our only choice is to start walking, heading east.”

Chapter Nine
Shank’s Mare
    â€œBee, this is getting us nowhere fast. We’ve been walking for three days now. How far does this forest extend?” asked Felistia, looking at the trees and shrubs surrounding them.
    â€œDamned if I know,” said the princess. “We haven’t seen anyone since we got free from Drailsen’s castle. Living on herbs, mushrooms, and bargabird eggs is getting old very fast. I’d like to get somewhere we can get some real food.”
    â€œI certainly would, too. Luckily, I haven’t had to do much shifting. Bargabird eggs and herbs are very slim fare. They might not be adequate if I had to shift a lot.”
    Lathan spoke up. “Princess, I tink I see a farm ahead of us. Maybe dey got food an’l feed us.”
    â€œGood idea,” said Berlina. “Maybe they have some horses, too. Fee, would you prefer to travel in your wildcat form or in human form on a horse?”
    â€œI would rather remain in human form except when I need to change. Reports of a white wildcat might give someone a clue to your whereabouts. I think you would not want that to happen.”
    â€œYes, yes. You’re right. That knocks the props from under another scheme—to obtain horses by demanding them
as the princess
. Don’t want to be identified as the princess. No, no. I guess the only way to get horses, short of money we don’t have, is through theft, extortion, or terror. We definitely are going to be the bad guys. I really hate to have to steal from the kingdom’s subjects, but we have to rescue Darvid. What do you